At a women’s forum I attended some years ago, Madam Halimah Yacob gave a speech.
She recalled that when she first joined politics in 2001, men would come up to her to ask who was looking after her children.
“They seem to have forgotten,” she replied wryly, “that I have a husband”.
Some years later, she would become President in a campaign defined by race. That she was also a woman was somewhat eclipsed.
Singapore has had a Malay president before. It has also had an Indian president. And a Eurasian one. But until Madam Halimah, it had never had a female president.
That, to me, was the true diversity milestone.
Her work with the labour movement and her past speeches, including the one she gave at that women’s forum, have shown compassion, authenticity and a deep understanding of on-the-ground concerns of women and the underprivileged.
I would have voted to install such a woman as head of state. I like to believe that many Singaporeans would have done the same.
Because, of late, it has become very clear that Singaporeans care deeply about women’s issues and gender inequality.
In particular, we have been very outspoken about a rash of sexual assault cases where the male perpetrators appear to have been let off relatively lightly.
This has spurred the Government to call for a review of gender-related attitudes and behaviours, culminating in a White Paper next year. I salute the acknowledgement that there is a need for reflection and a reset.
There are many women’s issues that are often not seen, overlooked or forgotten — by men, who still hold much of the power and influence in the land, and by women who only see things through men’s eyes.
After all, just having female parts does not automatically make one a champion for women’s causes.
Women have long known that calling out a sexist boss can have repercussions, especially if he is a power player in the company.
Women have long known that it might be better to stay silent if they have been sexually assaulted because they will be scrutinised instead for their appearance or their sexual history.
Women have long known that misogyny exists — explicitly on podcasts like okletsgo and implicitly, in glib stereotypes about lousy women drivers and emotional female bosses.
But that knowledge has the potential now to be translated into firm and positive action.
I am excited that this review, led by Minister of State for Education and Social and Family Development Sun Xueling, Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth and Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling, and Parliamentary Secretary for Health Rahayu Mahzam, will consult a wide range of men and women.
I hope they will have intimate knowledge of the practical matters on the ground, as well as a deep understanding of the ideological, cultural and socio-political discourses that characterise women’s issues. Women are not a monolithic entity.
As they embark on their task, I would like to offer a small and simple wish list for their consideration.
1. Publicly educate people that “feminism’’ is not a dirty word.
It simply means the belief in gender equality — that women and men have equal political, social and economic rights and opportunities. Everyone should be a feminist.
2.Remember that single, childless women are also women.
Many companies offer healthcare benefits to spouses and children, but not parents. I find this strange, as not every woman will marry and have babies.
But every woman definitely has parents. And it is the single, childless woman who usually ends up as caregiver
3.See the invisible.
Years ago, when I was a teenager, a classmate lost her mother.
On her first grocery run with her widowed Dad, he was shocked to discover that sanitary pads and tampons cost as much as they did.
Years later, when I was covering the Indian Ocean tsunami as a reporter, I asked a woman at a refugee camp in Sri Lanka if she needed anything.
She said aid groups had dispensed more than enough food, water and clothes. But the women were in desperate need of bras.
What is essential to a woman may not be immediately obvious to men, or even to other women, if there is a socio-economic divide.
There is potential for this review to be as revolutionary as the Women’s Charter, which was passed in 1961 to protect and advance the rights of women in Singapore.
But this potential can only be realised if all Singaporeans — including men — feel they have an equal stake in its outcome.
As Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said at the announcement of the review: “Every boy and girl must grow up imbibing the value of gender equality. They need to be taught from a very early age that boys and girls are to be treated equally, and very importantly, with respect. It has to be a deep mindset change.’’
He also noted the passing of the United States Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a feminist pioneer, who once said: “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
Justice Ginsburg had always acknowledged the support of her husband, Martin, who would cook and bake while his wife rose to the top of her profession. She also showed equanimity, wisdom and bridge-building in her feminism.
But no one would have mistaken her for a pushover.
When asked when there will be enough women on the Supreme Court, she famously answered, nine. “People are shocked but there’d been nine men and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.’’
She was not Singaporean. But her words must surely resonate with the Singaporeans taking part in this review.
May we proceed with the understanding that we are one united people, regardless of race, language or religion.
Or gender.
Ong Soh Chin is deputy director at the Institute of Policy Studies, a former journalist, and a feminist who until this year had served on the board of the Association of Women for Action and Research. These are her own views.
This piece was first published in TODAY on 24 September 2020.
Top photo from freepik.